Tarun Khanna, the actor known for his iconic roles as Shiva, Hanuman, Chanakya and Ravaan recently opened up about his life on the podcast Small Towns Big Stories which is hosted by renowned author and platform agnostic storyteller Pankaj Dubey. He opened up on his journey from Delhi to Mumbai, his extensive career and why he doesn’t worry about being typecast.
Tarun Khanna’s journey began 20 years ago with modelling, “Everyone always used to say you’re so good looking, you should try modelling. I joined a gym in hopes of getting scouted and that’s how I landed my first assignment for which I got paid 9000 for just 3 days of work when my monthly pocket money was 2000 rupees!” he laughs.
Tarun Khanna soon moved to Mumbai and after tons of modelling and advertising roles landed a movie with Mahesh Manjrekar but the film never took off as the producer died, “Mahesh Ji trained me for six months even before the shooting took place, though the film didn’t release, it’s audition tape got me my first TV lead role in the serial Avinash I.P.S.”
Khanna says that actor Manav Kaul helped him with his diction which later helped him when he played gods on screen. Mythological shows didn’t come to him easily as he narrates an audition story from the superhit TV show Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, “ Mohit Raina and I both auditioned for the show albeit for different characters. Later I found out that Mohit got the role of Mahadev and I was offered the role of his father- in – law!” he exclaims “I said how can you offer me his father-in-law’s role, we are of the same age and later the same production house offered me the role of Ravana in the show which people still remember to this day!”
The actor said that he felt dejected after he lost Mahadev’s role but said that god has other plans for him, “Soon after that audition I landed the role of Mahadev in a different production and god has been so bountiful that now I’ve played Lord Shiva in multiple shows.” He says he has always been fascinated by gods because of the books he read growing up such as Amar Chitra Katha and is saddened by the loss of reading culture in the young generation.
When asked who are his favourite actors he says, “ Irrfan Khan, Nasseruddin Shah, Dilip Kumar…and from present times I like Rajkumar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana.” He says icons like Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna and Dilip Kumar all have iconic dialogues because of their command over the Hindi language. He wishes to play the role of Dev Anand in Guide and Prithviraj Kapoor in Mughal-E-Azam in future.
The actor likes to play Cricket with his son Adamya, watch content on OTT in his free time and maintains a rigorous fitness routine, “I don’t condone the use of steroids or medicines to bulk up for a role as it is extremely risky for health and people have lost their lives because of it.” He misses the food of his hometown in Delhi, “Delhi food is irresistible, especially the chaats and golgappe…Mumbai just doesn’t match up when it comes to food!” he laughs. However, the actor wishes the professionalism and discipline of Mumbai to be translated into other places in India as well. “Mumbai is the most professional city in India”.
When asked what advice he would give to budding actors who want to come to Mumbai leaving their small towns behind, “Ask yourself if you really want to be an actor because due to the advent of social media, you can get money and fame from anywhere in the world. Prepare yourself before you come to the city, and don’t let rejection deter you from achieving your dreams!”
